From the NAS

National Association of Scholars executive director Ashley Thorne writes to note that NAS has just published a long, formal statement by NAS president Peter Wood about academic and intellectual freedom. It runs close to 11,000 words and is the most extensive statement NAS has ever made on the subject. Ashley adds:

This is a long-meditated response to the Black Lives Matter/cry-bully protests and the anemic responses of many college presidents and non-responses of many college boards of trustees. Peter saw the need for a framework that crisply lays out how intellectual freedom should work in relation to the other foundational principles of the university, and that’s what he has attempted here.

While the statement is of most direct relevance to faculty members, administrators, and trustees, it is a useful document for conscientious citizens as well—for anyone who cares about the true purposes of college education at a time when so many colleges have lost sight of their missions. So I thought the Power Line community might like to consider it.

Wood’s timely statement is posted as “The architecture of intellectual freedom.” It warrants our attention and consideration.

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